Wildlife at Ffridd Mathrafal

 

Mammals: Mathrafal forest is home to a wide range of mammals commonly found in woodlands, foxes, badgers, hares and grey squirrels. The Grey squirrels are bigger than the red squirrel, being approx 10" long with a less bushy 8" tail. Grey squirrels attack trees in early summer gnawing at the main trunk, in search of the sweet sappy layers immediately beneath the bark. We have information about Badger

Birds: Ffridd Mathrafal is home to a host of woodland species which include Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Treecreepers, together with the more uncommon Willow tit and Marsh tit. The Nuthatch (Sitta europaea), has a blue-grey back with a short tail and grows to approx 14cm. They nest in a hole in the tree often they plaster the entrance with mud. As well as eating insects it wedges nuts into bark cervices and hammers them open with it's beak. Another bird to be found in Mathrafal, is the Treecreeper. The name Treecreeper exactly describes the life of this bird. It is easily overlooked, as it is dull, buff streaked plumage matches the bark of the tree where it spends its life climbing in search of insects and their larvae. Blackbirds are also frequent visitors and supplement their diet by feeding on the blackberries and can then be seen wiping their bills on the nearby leaves to get rid of the seeds. This action is called “pip-spitting”. Other woodland mammals that feed on the blackberry shrub include the badger, the yellow-coloured dusty slug and a variety of snails including the grey-bodied banded snail.

Insects and reptiles: The later summer months brings the common wasp to the bramble shrub to feed on the sugars contained within the berries. They bite through the skin of the individual fruits to reach the juicy flesh inside. Once the skin has been successfully pierced then other insects begin to swarm to the fruit. Both the metallic greenbottle flies and the grey-haired red-eyed flesh flies are visitors, they feed by dribbling saliva on to the fruit which partly digests the flesh which they can then suck up in the form of juice.
When the fruit of the bramble shrub has fully matured and become almost mushy they attract butterflies such as the commas, speckled woods and red admirals. Spiders whose webs can be seen shinning among the bramble tangles in the early autumn mists , feed on the flies attracted to the juicy berries.

Habitats: The whole area is rich in flora and birdlife especially under the broadleaved canopy. During the Autumn the woodland is filled with a wide variety of of mushrooms and fungi in an assortment of colours and shapes.

How to get there:
Take the Welshpool to Dolgellau A458 through Llanfair Caereinion turning right onto the A495 Oswestry road. Ffridd Mathrafal is approximately 2.5 miles on your left.

Local Weather Forecast (Multimap)

Enter through:
Ffridd Mathrafal Access Point

Contact:
Ieuan Evans
Local Area Manager
0845 604 0845
e-mail: ieuan.evans@forestry.gsi.gov.uk